An Appetite for Poetry [NOOK Book]

Overview

Frank Kermode is one of the pre-eminent practitioners of the art of criticism in the English speaking world. It has been his distinction to make a virtue as all the best critics have done of the necessarily occasional nature of his profession. That virtue is evident on every page of this collection of essays.

In one group of essays he asks the reader to share his pleasure in a number of major writers Milton, T.S. Eliot, Wallace Stevens. In ...

More About
This Book

Overview

Frank Kermode is one of the pre-eminent practitioners of the art of criticism in the English speaking world. It has been his distinction to make a virtue as all the best critics have done of the necessarily occasional nature of his profession. That virtue is evident on every page of this collection of essays.

In one group of essays he asks the reader to share his pleasure in a number of major writers Milton, T.S. Eliot, Wallace Stevens. In another, he discusses ideas about problems in biblical criticism and their implications for the study of narrative in particular and the interpretation of secular literary texts in general. In them he gives clear accounts of questions relating to interpretation and the debate about canons.

A key essay looks at the career of William Empson, a career lived between literature and criticism, between the pleasure of the text and the delight in conceptual issues which is characteristic of so much of the contemporary taste for theory. It is Empson's career, perhaps, which is the foundation for the polemical prologue to the book, where Kermode challenges those who doubt the possibility (and the necessity) of the cross-over between literature and criticism, and who argue that criticism is mere appreciation, mere connoisseurship, that theory has displaced criticism and has left literature in the dust, that theory is the avant-garde of critical thought. This piece defines the author's position in the debate about literature and value.

Editorial Reviews

Library Journal

Kermode, an important critic who authored The Sense of an Ending and many other volumes, resists the post-modern notion that theory is, if not more valuable than literature, then at least its equal. Bringing considerable expertise to each of these ten essays--which treat Empson, Eliot, and Freud, among others--he instead supports a belief in the primacy of the text. In a lengthy, well-argued prologue, he develops his disagreement with theoreticians who hold not only that all texts are equal, but also that the literary ``canon'' is but a political act to oppress women and minorities. His comments on Milton and on Wallace Stevens are superbly reasoned and expressed. Much can be learned from this major book, but much learning must be brought to it as well: it is addressed to the professional.-- Vincent D. Balitas, Allentown Coll., Center Valley, Pa.

Related Subjects

Meet the Author

Sir John Frank Kermode was born in November 1919. He was a British literary critic best known for his work The Sense of an Ending: Studies in the Theory of Fiction, published in 1967 and for his extensive book-reviewing and editing.

Kermode was born on the Isle of Man, and was educated at Douglas High School and Liverpool University. He served in the Royal Navy during World War II, for six years in total, much of it in Iceland.

He began his academic career as a lecturer at Durham University in 1947. He later taught at Reading University, then the University of Bristol. He was named Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College London from 1967 to 1974.

In 1974, Kermode took the position of King Edward VII Professor of English Literature at Cambridge University, resigning in 1982. He then moved to Columbia University, where he was Julian Clarence Levi Professor Emeritus in the Humanities. In 1975-76 he held the Norton Lectureship at Harvard University. He was knighted in 1991.

Your Rating:

Your Recommendations:

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked,
or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to
Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original
and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you
and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not
violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help
ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer.
However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or
to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the
information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reminder:

- By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its
sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the
review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.

- Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly
those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com
also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.